. >>> also, misery, so many still struggling after hurricane sandy. we'll look at its possible effect on turnout tomorrow. and would you believe the threat from the next storm on the way, a nor'easter threatening for mid-week. the storm, and the election, our coverage, nbc nightly news begins now. >>> good evening, and we can tell you it is almost over now, after a couple of years and a couple of billion, on the eve of decision 2012, we are very close to knowing the first indications of how this race is going to break. heading into election day, by all accounts this election is a statistical dead heat, the latest national head to head has this as a 48-47 race, while state polls vary and while the battleground states call for a lot, you can tell how tight the race is by watching the two campaigns, positively barnstorming the battleground states, battling it out, based on the hope of converts here. all this, while the whole region of the country sits in the dark and watches the profound plaza h peter alexander traveling with the romney campaign in colum